What’s A Gap Day?

Wedding days are magical and fantastic, but they are also tiring. Sometimes weddings run late into the evening or there is an after party and you get to bed incredibly late. Then the next morning you need to wake up and catch a plane to your honeymoon. There’s a lot that’s happening in 24 hours and it doesn’t seem like you even get a chance to breathe for a moment. A gap day is exactly what you think. It’s a day in between your wedding day and your departure for your honeymoon. There’s a lot of benefits to adding a gap day. It’s something that we wish we did after our wedding. We fell asleep pretty early on our wedding night. I think we were asleep by 10pm because we knew we had to be up for the airport at 5am. A gap day would’ve given us the chance to sit and relax for a minute. There is no need to be frantic either wondering if you really actually have everything packed because you have that time to gather everything you need! Having that day to sit and figure everything out can come in super handy.  

Another Reason

You will also have more time to see family that traveled to see you. Josiah and I had so many family members come into town for our wedding and we never got to spend time with them due to leaving for the airport at 5am the following morning. Family comes from near and far to weddings and most of the time the Bride & Groom only gets to see them for a short moment on the wedding day. If you add a gap day after your wedding this gives you the chance to have breakfast with your family or do something fun with them. This will not only give you a break but it will also make your family feel special and appreciated.  

We have heard people who took a few days after their wedding to go to the mountains before they leave for their big trip. They said it was one of the best decisions they made with their wedding. There were no set in stone plans, no planes to catch, no appointments to make and was 100% complete relaxation. This is especially great if you’re planning a huge trip in Europe where you’ll be walking around and exploring. In our case, we read books on the beach in Mexico for 6 days.

To sum up, adding a gap day can be especially helpful for a few reasons.

1. You get a breather in between the wedding and honeymoon.
2. You’ll get the chance to visit with family after the wedding.
3. You get to double check your suitcase and pack your essentials.
   
   Bonus
   
4. You can open all of your gifts the day after your wedding which is very exciting!

Those are just a few reasons for taking a gap day. We’re sure you could find more, but it’s one of our biggest regrets from our wedding. If we could do it all over again, we would absolutely add a gap day between our wedding and honeymoon.

Read more tips for brides here